|
19 August 2008 Zambia
The death was announced of Levy Mwanawasa, President of Zambia since January 2002. The Vice-President, Rupiah Banda, subsequently assumed the functions of head of government in an acting capacity. Under the terms of the Constitution, upon the presidency’s falling vacant a presidential election is required to be held within 90 days.
18 August 2008 Pakistan
In a televised address Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation as President. Although he denied charges of violation of the Constitution and gross misconduct, Musharraf acknowledged that impeachment proceedings against him, as sought by the Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League—Nawaz (then the main parties in the coalition Government: the latter announced its withdrawal from the coalition on 25 August), could have provoked further instability in the country. The Chairman of the Senate, Mohammad Mian Soomro, was appointed President in an acting capacity, pending the parliamentary election of a successor.
8 August 2008 Georgia
The deployment of Georgian government troops against Russian-supported separatists in the South Ossetia region, following an escalation in conflict between the two sides, prompted a concerted military offensive, including an air bombardment, against Georgia by Russian forces. Russia asserted that it had acted to protect the interests of its citizens resident in South Ossetia. After mediation by envoys of the European Union, and personal intervention by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, on 12 August President Dmitrii Medvedev of Russia and President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia announced their acceptance of the provisions of a peace plan, providing for an immediate cessation of hostilities. On 19 August a special ministerial session of the North Atlantic Council (the highest authority of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—NATO) urged Russia’s immediate withdrawal of troops from areas of Georgia, in accordance with the peace plan, and temporarily suspended proceedings of the NATO-Russia Council. The meeting also reaffirmed support for Georgia’s territorial integrity, and endorsed the establishment of a new NATO-Georgia Commission to facilitate future dialogue and co-operation.
|
 |
6 August 2008 Mauritania
President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi was deposed in a bloodless coup led by Gen. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, the Presidential Chief of Staff. Abdel Aziz declared himself President of an 11-member High Council of State, which assumed interim executive power and pledged to organize a free and fair presidential election ‘as soon as possible’. Abdallahi and his Prime Minister, Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef, were among numerous members of the ousted administration to be detained by the military immediately following the coup, which was widely condemned by the international community. On 9 August the African Union announced Mauritania’s suspension from the organization, pending the restoration of democratic government. Abdallahi had been elected to the presidency in March 2007, at the conclusion of a transitional period that followed a military coup in 2005.
30 July 2008 Serbia
The former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić, the most senior war crimes suspect indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), was extradited to the custody of the ICTY at The Hague, Netherlands, having been arrested by Serbian security officers in Belgrade on 21 July. Karadžić, indicted on 11 charges of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and other atrocities committed between 1992 and 1996, made his first appearance before the tribunal on 31 July.
21 July 2008 Nepal
In a second round of voting for the election of the country’s first President, Dr Ram Baran Yadav was successful after securing the votes of 308 of the 590 Constituent Assembly members who took part in the ballot. Yadav’s nomination was supported by the Nepali Congress Party (of which he is General Secretary), the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) and the Madhesi People’s Rights Forum Nepal (MPRFM), the second, third and fourth largest parties in the Constituent Assembly, respectively. Ramraja Prasad Singh, the candidate supported by the largest party in the Assembly, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), received 282 votes. A first round of voting had been held on 19 July, in which neither candidate secured the 298 votes necessary to win the poll, although legislature members did elect Paramananda Jha, supported by the MPRFM, to the position of Vice-President. The new President will mainly perform ceremonial duties, but will also play an important role in the formation of a new government, with responsibility for the swearing in of the Prime Minister.
|
